Guest column: No easy solution to Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Readers of The St. Augustine Record know it publishes opinions and letters that usually fault how Palestinians are treated. In a recent opinion, the term “Palestinian territory” was used. What does this mean, historically or legally?

Land now claimed by Israel and the Palestinians has, perhaps, the most tortuous history of any land. The earliest mention of “Israel” is found on an Egyptian stele dated from 1209 B.C.E. Before and after this date many different tribes or “entities” ruled the region. Maps drawn in later years based on archaeology, the Bible and Greek writers show how the lands were controlled in early times. We know that about 1000 B.C. it was split into two entities, the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. King David and King Solomon established a “capital” where the city of Jerusalem now exists and the First Temple was built.

Eleven centuries later, in 135 CE, Roman Emperor Hadrian used the term Palestine for the first time referring to the region conquered during the Jewish revolt. Over the next 19 centuries, Jews, Romans, Crusaders, Turks and others controlled all or parts of the area. When Muslims conquered Jerusalem in the seventh century they built the Dome of the Rock in 692 CE on what was formerly the Jewish Temple Mount.

Which brings us to “modern” times. The British Mandate and the United Nations Partition Plan (Resolution 181) in 1947-48 that attempted to establish independent Arab and Jewish states. For these negotiations a detailed map was drawn outlining the two states borders. The Resolution was poorly implemented and “civil war” broke out between the two parties. In 1948 the State of Israel was established and the Arab-Israeli war raged on until an armistice in 1949.

Over the next 25 years, with interventions by England, France, USSR, and others, numerous conflicts occurred: the Suez war of 1958, the 1967 Israeli attack on Egypt and the 1969-70 War of Attrition. In 1973, Syria and Egypt attacked Israel and were defeated. Among other problems, this conflict led to the 1973 oil crisis in the U.S. A peace treaty between Israel and Egypt was signed but did little to resolve territorial disputes. Space does not allow further discussion of the many conflicts and U.N. Resolutions that followed. However, to those who may not study the history of warfare, I remind them of the saying: “To the victor belong the spoils.” Remember the Spanish-American War? Those terrible “gringos” kept the Philippines for 47 years!

So, to what does the term “Palestinian territory” refer? What should be the outcome of the “settlements” dispute? Should Muslims, for example, allow Israel to demolish the Dome of the Rock built on the Temple Mount, the action demanded for Jewish settlements outside the boundaries of U.N. Resolution 181? Or, how about the problem of the Golan Heights? The British Mandate included parts of the Heights within Israel. U.N. Resolution 242 says they are occupied territory but it also calls for “safe boundaries free from threats or acts of war.” Other locations, directly on Israel’s borders, are home to those who call for Israel’s destruction and are free to launch missiles whenever the thought occurs. Does U.N. Resolution 242 apply to these “boundaries?”

The obvious point of all the above is to recognize that finding a solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict will not be easy considering that Israel’s antagonists continue to vow its destruction. If it were easy there would have been a solution long ago. Arguments that narrowly define the problem serve no purpose. However, in my judgement, the weight of history favors Israel if and when a solution is found.

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Don Beattie of Fruit Cove, worked for major companies, consulted for many Fortune 500 companies, and started his own business. Among other senior government jobs, he was a NASA manager during the Apollo Program and an assistant secretary at the Department of Energy. He is listed in Who’s Who in America.

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Comparing the destruction of the "Dome of the Mount" to the removal of the settlements built illegally, well inside the Palestinian Territory, reveals your undeniable contempt for the Palestinian people and the rights that were granted to them by the U.N.

You had to reach back through 19 centuries of war, through the tortuous times of the crusades to claim these so called "rights" to Palestine? It is sickening sir, that you do so, sickening that you use those horrific times in the history of man to lay claim to this land. You sir would be better off taking a cue from the Christians and the Catholics who now, and rightfully so, disavow their acts of war and behavior during that time. This "historical" claim you make, when man was unjust and war ruled the world, is nullified by the modern understanding of life and the rights of men. Using this horrific history to justify your claim reveals your true nature as a militarist - and your claims to the "spoils of war" only serve as evidence of your pride as a conqueror. Their is no simple solution - but claiming that you own the land because you won an illegal war - is just disgusting.

The Israeli government is wrong - and they need to get their tanks out of the backyards of the Palestinian people. Israels right to exist should be equally balanced by the Palestinian people's birthright to live and prosper on the land of their fathers.